The Bastard. Book 3. The Flood

“The Flood” is the third book in the “Bastard” series by Andrey Shoppert and Aleksandr Alekseev—an epic military-historical novel in the genre of alternative history.

1614. Russia that has broken free from the Time of Troubles is no longer the country their contemporaries knew. On the throne sits Tsar Victor the First— a man from the future who managed to break the usual course of history, destroy old dynasties, and begin painful but necessary reforms. However, the price of change is high. Plots by the boyars, an assassination attempt on the royal couple, internal purges, and ruthless power struggles tear the country apart from within.

And outside, the real “flood” is advancing: Europe is gathering a crusade against a strengthening Russia. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish-Lithuanian forces, mercenaries from across the continent, and steppe allies converge on a single point to crush the new Russian tsar. The decisive clash becomes inevitable.

On the pages of the novel, the fates of rulers and ordinary soldiers intertwine—generals and recruits, diplomats and peasants. Great battles sit alongside backroom intrigues; reforms are paired with brutal decisions; technological progress comes with blood and betrayal. Victory near Vyazma, the defense of Smolensk, war on distant frontiers, and the first shoots of a new military doctrine show at what cost a state is created and held.

“The Flood” is a story about power and responsibility—about the choice between humanism and necessary brutality, about how easily the course of history can be changed and how hard it is to keep it from falling into new chaos.